The network infrastructures of various types of radio communication systems have been installed over significant portions of the populated areas of the world. Cellular communication systems are exemplary of radio communication systems whose infrastructures are widely deployed and of which use is widespread. While cellular communication systems were primarily first utilized to perform voice communication services, increasingly, cellular communication systems are capable of more data-intensive communication services. Multimedia, and other data-intensive, communication services are increasingly performed by way of cellular, and cellular-like communication systems.
Cellular broadcast services are amongst the communication services that are performable, or proposed, for new-generation, cellular communication systems. A broadcast service is a PTMP (Point to Multi-Point) communication service in which data is broadcast by network infrastructure, available for reception by a plurality of mobile stations. The mobile stations are positionable at any location within the broadcast, i.e., coverage, area of the broadcast data. Communication conditions between a network broadcast node and individual ones of the mobile stations are non-ideal. Communication conditions upon the communication channels are additionally time-varying. Fading, and other, conditions interfere with the communication of the data.
Communication of data pursuant to other types of communication services, such as PTP (Point-to-Point) communication services also are susceptible to the same types of distortion. And, significant efforts have been made to provide manners by which to overcome, or compensate for, the effects of such distortion. Various closed-loop, feedback schemes are sometimes utilized. In a closed-loop scheme, a receiving station provides information to a sending station of communication channel conditions. And, in response thereto, the sending station elects in what manner to communicate the data best to overcome, or compensate for, the distortion. As communication conditions change, the closed-loop nature of the communication scheme permits the sending station again to change the manner by which the data is communicated, all responsive to the change in communication conditions. The power level at which the data is communicated as well as the modulation and encoding schemes by which the data is modulated and encoded are amongst the manners by which the sending station can make adaptation to the communication conditions.
Closed-loop schemes, however, are less amenable to broadcast, i.e., PTMP, communication services as the data is broadcast to a plurality of receiving stations. Each of the receiving stations, here mobile stations, is differently-positioned and likely to receive the broadcast data upon communication channels that exhibit different communication conditions.
In one existing PTMP scheme, a conservative modulation and coding scheme (MCS) is selected to ensure best that the broadcast data is communicated to the mobile stations in manners permitting the mobile stations to recover the information content of the broadcast data. Once the MCS is selected, the network alerts the mobile stations of the selected scheme. The signaling of the alert is, e.g., layer three signaling. In the event that the network becomes aware of communication conditions permitting of a change in the modulation in communication scheme, the scheme is accordingly changed. Use of the most-conservative MCS state, however, does not permit for increased throughput rates that might otherwise be possible if communication conditions are good and another MCS state were instead used.
In another existing proposal, on-demand selection is utilized. The network queries mobile stations for SINR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) conditions of individual ones of the mobile stations to obtain channel conditions. And selection is made responsive thereto. Or, the network sends an alert identifying a selected MCS, and a mobile station is provided with an opportunity to reply with a “not agree” response if the selected MCS would be inappropriate for the mobile station, such as due to the communication conditions.
These existing schemes, as well as others, however, do not well provide for good optimization of the communication capabilities of the communication system.
Accordingly, an improved manner by which to provide for a PTMP service that better provides for compensation of non-ideal, communication channel conditions would therefore be beneficial.
It is in light of this background information that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.